Turkey - Ankara

 1974

Tuesday, 2nd April

Started off in very low cloud and we couldn't see much for the first couple of hours. Quite a pleasant drive to Ankara with the weather getting better and road conditions good. Stopped in Ankara for the after-noon. Tried to change the Bulgarian money but without success. Bought some provisions. Continued our journey in very mixed weather. Stopped the night at a garage outside Ankara. The pump attendant was very friendly and told us we could sleep under cover of their lubrication bay. All his friends came round and we played cassettes, English and Turkish and drank Turkish tea. We stayed and talked with them until 1 a.m. None of them spoke much English so it is surprising that we were able to have an interesting conversation but we did.

Shanty town on the slopes near Ankara Castle

2025

Tuesday 10th June

We started early and took two metro trains to Istanbul station.  It is a new station but there was no signage to show us where to go.  I found a knowledgeable fellow traveller to ask and as he was also going to Ankara too (a Turk who had spent his working life in the USA), he invited us to join him in the waiting room.  It was a bit like being in an airport waiting for our flight to be called.  We also had our bags scanned and had to show our passports.  As with the station, the train was very new and comfortable.  We had had to get our tickets in advance from Amber Travel which was essential as the train had no available seats.  Our hotel was not too far from the station and after checking in we set about finding the spot where we took the shanty town picture in 1974.  We only had to walk about 10 minutes and there it was, or was it?  The hill was the same but the shanty town and most of the buildings in the foreground had gone.  Here is

Wednesday 11th June

We visited Ataturk’s mausoleum along with the museum of recent history which was fascinating.  He is obviously much loved as the founder of modern Turkey.  There were many Turkish visitors especially young people in school and college groups.  We negotiated the metro and so many people wanted to know where we were from, there seems to be so few foreign tourists here.  We ate out in the evening at a local very Turkish restaurant, they didn’t speak English nor did they have a menu so we pointed at a few dishes on display and ended up with rather a large meal!

Ankara from the balcony of our room on the 9th floor